In A Half Shell

In A Half Shell Your guide to the world's best oyster varieties, oyster bars, producers and destinations.

Showcasing the world's most exceptional oyster varieties, oyster bars, growers, and destinations.

04/01/2026

SOS Please help an oyster nerd out!

Last week, I sat down to taste two new oysters from Pamlico Bay, NC, grown on Hatteras Island. Both were well shucked and tasted great! Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of salinity, minerality, aroma.

Then I took a sip of tap water.

Immediate hit of intense bitterness. It felt like I had chewed up an aspirin!

It was so, so, so incredibly bitter that I thought there was something wrong with the water. I had not eaten anything else beforehand. But I had drunk tap water at a local restaurant the eve before, and it tasted fine. I asked a couple of the staff members near me to taste the water, and they didn't notice anything unusual about it.

Later that evening, a friend/colleague reported experiencing the same phenomenon after having one of the NC oysters. It only reacted this way with tap water. It felt very validating/reassuring to know that it wasn't just in my mind, but now I'm wondering what exactly happened there??

Has this happened to you?

Please tag or share with a food/flavor scientist that might know what's going on!

New product launch! Introducing OYSTERQIU: the world’s first regenerative chewing gum, made with real oysters.I’ve alway...
04/01/2026

New product launch! Introducing OYSTERQIU: the world’s first regenerative chewing gum, made with real oysters.

I’ve always insisted that to truly appreciate an oyster’s merroir, you have to chew it. Even my last name (Qiu) is instructionally pronounced like chew. 🤣

So I started wondering: what if I could isolate that specific sensory experience to places that don't have access to fresh oysters?

We’ve spent the last year working with food scientists to stabilize authentic oyster liquor and protein from the adductor muscle into a chewable, shelf-stable format. Each pack features a curated selection of sticks made with fresh oysters from distinct regions, allowing you to experience a side-by-side comparison of different water profiles without the need for a shucking knife.



Which flavor are you the most excited to try?

Watch Patrick take on a behemoth Damariscotta, ME, giant oyster using an old (but new to me) method.This was breakfast ...
03/18/2026

Watch Patrick take on a behemoth Damariscotta, ME, giant oyster using an old (but new to me) method.

This was breakfast on the Monday of the Seafood Expo North America show in Boston at the booth. I did the most elegant slurp of all time, but didn't get it on video lol 🤷‍♀️

Patrick remembers these oysters well, and recounts them fondly every time we talk about oysters from "back in the day." Do they serve a purpose in today's market of bougie and boutique cocktail oysters? Absolutely. But they need to be presented well (like this) and be a vessel for a great story!

“What is an oyster if not the perfect food? It requires no preparation or cooking. Cooking would be an affront. It provi...
03/14/2026

“What is an oyster if not the perfect food? It requires no preparation or cooking. Cooking would be an affront. It provides its own sauce. It’s a living thing until seconds before disappearing down your throat, so you know – or should know – that it’s fresh. It appears on your plate as God created it: raw, unadorned. A squeeze of lemon, or maybe a little mignonette sauce (red wine vinegar, cracked black pepper, some finely chopped shallot), about as much of an insult as you might care to tender against this magnificent creature. It is food at its most primeval and glorious, untouched by time or man. A living thing, eaten for sustenance and pleasure, the same way our knuckle-dragging forefathers ate them. And they have, for me anyway, the added mystical attraction of all that sense memory – the significance of being the first food to change my life. I blame my first oyster for everything I did after: my decision to become a chef, my thrill-seeking, all my hideous screwups in pursuit of pleasure. I blame it all on that oyster. In a nice way, of course.” — Anthony Bourdain, A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines

Care for a cup of Oly's?I absolutely adore the Olympia (Ostrea lurida) oyster. Despite their demure size, they offer a l...
03/13/2026

Care for a cup of Oly's?

I absolutely adore the Olympia (Ostrea lurida) oyster. Despite their demure size, they offer a lot of complexity in flavor. Flat, roundish to guitar pick-shaped shells, with an olive green iridescent sheen on the inside. The best quality Oly meats should have a light cream color, fully opaque. Mild to moderate salinity with mineral-forwardness, nuttiness, and notes of maittake or cremini mushroom or copper. Not terribly sweet, though it can give a buttery or sweet cream impression in the finish. Metallicness will vary by location.

Endemic to the Pacific Coast of North America, they were once very abundant and could be found from Washington through California. Nowadays, they are considered a "specialty" varietal that oyster aficionados actively seek out. Difficult to find on the regular on the East Coast (they don't travel well nor have great shelf life), it's an oyster to special order in for your five species flight.

This was taken at

⭐️ Happy International Women's Day! ⭐️Here's a capsule collection of snaps taken over the last year of women who have in...
03/08/2026

⭐️ Happy International Women's Day! ⭐️

Here's a capsule collection of snaps taken over the last year of women who have inspired, guided, and supported me. Thank you for your leadership, courage, and kindness.

There are sooo many other remarkable women who aren't pictured here that I also want to include. I hope you know who you are!! ❤️

Spending some time with 7th generation oyster grower Jonathan Dugas out on Caraquet Bay, New Brunswick, taught me a litt...
02/06/2026

Spending some time with 7th generation oyster grower Jonathan Dugas out on Caraquet Bay, New Brunswick, taught me a little bit about the art of doing less. By scaling back and slowing down, he's able to let mother nature do the heavy lifting.

Extensively cultivated using natural set in shallow waters, amongst the eel grass meadows, these Caraquet Bay oysters take five years to reach market size. Mature oysters are collected by hand, graded by size, and held in cages for easier packing-to-order.

Decidedly more mineral-forward and gamier than surface-grown oysters, it's a story of how oysters used to be. I'm slowly combing through my photos, videos, and audio footage from last fall to put into a new specialty course focused on showcasing the beautiful merroir of New Brunswick. Available through soon!

Have you tried an oyster from Caraquet Bay before?

My brand new (and very first) book deal was announced today. Right after my birthday and right before Oyster Educators ...
01/17/2026

My brand new (and very first) book deal was announced today. Right after my birthday and right before Oyster Educators Summit. What perfect timing!

For a long time, I didn’t feel like I had enough of a new or fresh perspective to merit an entire book about oysters. The more I learn, the more I feel like I have yet to learn. And when I set my mind to creating something, I want to do nothing but the best work and to add real value to the conversation. So despite being approached a few times in the past about writing a book, I never felt like those opportunities were good fits for me (nor have I pursued it proactively).

Then Nicole James at Quarto reached out. I told her point blank, “I don’t want to write an oyster 101 and I don’t want to do a cookbook.” At the heart of it, I didn’t want to make a conventional oyster book, especially when I was fully immersed and invested in building OMG.

Luckily for us, she was curious enough to continue the conversation and asked to hear about my “dream” project. So with not much to lose, I painted a picture. I wanted to be true to what I find most fascinating in the oyster world—and it all revolves around flavor and what impacts it.

Over the better part of last year, Nicole and I got to know each other and our respective strengths and wheelhouses. I’m particularly drawn to Quarto’s deep experience in producing illustrated non-fiction and Rock Point’s design sensibilities and “gift-forward” marketing approach.

There are so many exceptional oyster books out there, so I know the bar is high. I’m excited to pour my 16+ years of bivalve-curious adventures and travels into these pages, and to continue the research on the road in 2026. PNW, Texas, Baja, Alaska: I’ll be seeing you very soon. 👀

No judgement, just facts! 😎As far as oyster quotes go, this one is an instant classic for me.All credit goes to Davin of...
01/13/2026

No judgement, just facts! 😎

As far as oyster quotes go, this one is an instant classic for me.

All credit goes to Davin of for imparting these words of wisdom on a random Zoom call while we were planning out the oyster experience component of an event about oyster service. (So meta!)

Looking forward to bringing some hot takes and cold oysters to the upcoming Oyster Educators Summit.

2025 was quite the year! From moderating dream-team panels to planting baby geoducks, touring oyster farms to teaching o...
12/31/2025

2025 was quite the year! From moderating dream-team panels to planting baby geoducks, touring oyster farms to teaching oyster classes, shucking at Landlocked to sauna-ing at super Glidden Point, here's some of my favorite memories with some of my favorite oyster peeps.

I'm SO ready to take on some major personal and professional projects in 2026, and continue to create space for new oyster service pros & producers.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

How did go from having only shucked 300 oysters to completing 400k in a year? Well, it was her idea!Swipe through to l...
12/16/2025

How did go from having only shucked 300 oysters to completing 400k in a year? Well, it was her idea!

Swipe through to learn more about Melinda's journey as a professional oyster shucker.

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